Latch-needle for knitting-machines.



PATENTED DEC. 12, 1905. G. J. SIBBALD & D. A. VANCE.

V LATCH NEEDLE FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 24, 1905.

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CHARLES J. SIBBALD, OF TROY, NEW YORK, AND DAMON A. VANCE, OF

BENNI NGTON, VERMONT, ASSIGNORS TO CHARLES, COOPER, OF

NINGTON, VERMONT.

BEN-

LATCH-NEEDLE FOR KNITTING-MACHINES.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that we, CHARLES J. SIBBALD, residing at Troy, in the county of Rensselaer, in the State of New York, and DAMON A. VANCE, residing at Bennington, in the county of Bennington and State of Vermont, citizens of the United States, have invented new and useful Improvements in Latch-Needles for Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved latchneedle for knitting-machines, the object of the invention being to provide an improved pivot for the latch of the needle which is so attached to the body of the needle that it will be free from any possibility of becoming loosened or detached from said needle and which also provides a durable bearing for the latch to rock upon and firmly hold the walls of the body of the needle at each side of the latch against any tendency to spring apart or together.

We are aware that needles have been manufactured in which the rivet was provided with screw-threads which engaged the walls upon opposite sides of the slot in which the latch of the needle was located, the opposite ends of said rivet being countersunk in the outer faces of the walls upon opposite sides of said slot, and while this construction is perfectly practicable and operative if properly constructed it is open to the objection that in the manufacture of the needle the same is finally finished by bufling, and if through any inaccuracy in the amount of countersink or if the countersunk portion becomes very slight because of being buffed off by carelessness on account of the workman holding the needle too long in contact with the bufiing-wheel then the rivet,being screw-thread ed,will work in the operation of the same to rotate slightly, and thus bring one end of said rivet below the surface of the outer face of the needle upon one side and above. the surface at the opposite side, causing one end of the rivet to terminate inside the face of the needle, making a depression, and to project beyond the face of the needle on the opposite side, causing a roughness which impairs the value of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 24, 1905. Serial No. 266,799.

Patented Dec. 12, 1905.

The object of the form of our invention here inbefore described is to prevent any such defects appearing in the needle after use, and to that end the rivet is made with a series of annular flanges or projections on the periphery thereof. These flanges or projections are forced into the walls of the needle upon opposite sides of the latch-slot, so that there is no tendency to work lengthwise of the rivet whether the countersunk portion is absolutely accurate or not, and, in fact, said rivet would have no tendency to work lengthwise even though the countersunk portion were entirely absent, and hence the extreme nicety of manu facture hereinbefore referred to is done away with to a large extent and the cost of manufacture very much reduced.

The invention consists in a latch-needle of a rivet extending transversely across the slot provided for the reception of the latch of said needle, said rivet having annular projections upon its periphery in engagement with depressions in the walls of the needle upon oppo-' site sides of said slot.

The invention further consists in the combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification, and particularly pointed out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is an enlarged side elevationof ourimproved latchneedle, said needle being broken away to save space in the drawings. Fig. 2 is a front elevation ofthe portion of the needle illustrated in Fig. 1 with the latch and its pivot removed therefrom. of the rivet before the same is attached to the needle. Fig. 4 is an enlarged section, partly in elevation, taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 1, illustrating the rivet in connection with the nee-' dle and its latch before said rivet is formed into its completed shape. Fig. 5 is an enlarged'section, partly in elevation, taken on line 4 4, Fig. 1, after the rivet has been upset and finished. Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 5, showing our improved'rivet attached to a needle without any countersunk recesses in said needle upon the outer faces thereof at opposite ends of said rivet.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the drawings, 5 is the body portion of a well-known form of latch-needle; 6, the hook of saidneedle; 7 the latch; 8, the rivet which constitutes the pivot of said latch, and 9 the slot extending longitudinally of said body portion 5 between the walls 10 10, which walls are a portion of the body 5. In attaching our improved rivet to the needle the walls 10 10 are drilled, as shown in Fig. 4, at 11 11. The latch 7 is then inserted in the slot 9 between the Walls 10 10, and the rivet 8, which consists of a straight pin with annular flanges or projections 12 12, preferably V-shaped in crosssection, formed upon the periphery thereof, is inserted through the holes 1111 and through a hole 13, formed in the latch 7. Said rivet at this time is slightly longer, as illustrated in Fig. 4, than the extreme distance between the outer faces of the walls 10 10, and the hole 13 is larger in diameter than said rivet. The outer diameter of said rivet, measured across said annular flanges, forms a tight fit in the holes 11 11.

In assembling the diflerent parts referred to a piece of paper 17 is inserted between the latch 7 and one of the inner walls 10, and when the rivet is inserted as hereinbefore described it passes through a hole formed in this piece of paper, and said rivet is then subjected to pressure and is upset, so that preferably in its central portion it very nearly fills the hole 13 in the latch 7 and the annular projections or flanges 12 12 are crowded more closely one against the other and forced into that portion of the walls 10 10 immediately surrounding the holes 11 11, so that said annular flanges project into recesses 15 in said walls between the slot 9 and the outer faces upon opposite sides, respectively, of said needle. The pressure brought to bear upon the rivet in the upsetting operation also flattens the two opposite ends thereof and upsets the same until they fill the countersunk recesses 14 in the opposite outer faces of the walls 10 10, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The completed rivet, as shown in Fig. 5, then has at each end a series of annular flanges or projections 12, which fit into recesses 15, formed in the walls 10, and the two opposite ends of said rivet fit in the countersunk recesses 14. The object of the paper 17 is to prevent the walls 10 10 from binding upon the latch, so that the same will rock freely upon its pivot in its completed state, and when the needle 'is finally hardened and tempered said paper will be burned out, leaving a very slight space between the latch and the walls 10 10. By this construction it will be seen that thewalls 10 10 are held firmly in position by'the rivet and that it will be impossible for the rivet to turn or become detached from said walls, while the central portion 16 of the completed rivet forms a strong and durable bearing for the latch of the needle.

In Fig. 6 a modified form of our invention is illustrated, in which the countersunk portions are omitted from the outer side faces of the walls of the needle, in which 7 is the latch, 10 10 the side walls of a needle 5, the rivet 8' being provided with flanges 12, which extend around the periphery thereof and throughout the entire length ofthe rivet, the side walls 10 10 in this case being without countersunk depressions in the outer side faces thereof. The manner of inserting the rivet and upsetting the same by pressure is exactly the same as in the form of our invention hereinbefore described.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim, and desire by Letters Patent to secure, is

1. A latchneedle for knitting-machines provided with a slot extending longitudinally thereof between two walls and comprising in its construction a rivet extending transversely of said needle across said slot, said rivet having a plurality of annular projections thereon in engagement with one of said walls between the outer side face thereof and said slot, and a latch pivoted on said rivet between said walls.

2. A latch -needle for knitting-machines provided with a slot extending longitudinally thereof between two walls and comprising in its construction a rivet extending transversely of said needle across said slot, said rivet having a plurality of annular projections thereon in engagement with one of said walls between the outer side face thereof and said slot, the diameter of said rivet between said walls being greater than the diameter of the portion of said rivet having engagement with said walls, and a latch pivoted on said rivet between said walls.

3. A latch -needle for knitting-machines provided with a slot extending longitudinally thereof between two walls and comprising in its construction a rivet extending transversely of said needle across said slot, said rivet having a series of parallel annular V-shaped projections in engagement with each of said walls.

4. A latch-needle for knitting-machines provided with a slot extending longitudinally thereof between two walls and comprising in its construction a rivet extending transversely of said needle across said slot, said rivet having a plurality of annular projections thereon projecting into annular depressions in each of said walls between said slot and the outer side faces of said walls, respectively, and a latch pivoted on said rivet between said walls.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES J. SIBBALD. DAMON A. VANCE.

Witnesses:

CHARLES S. Kim-ion, EDW. A. BELLMORE. 

